IC 2944, also known as the Lambda Centauri Nebula or Running Chicken Nebula, was captured over a 71-day period from mid-February to late April 2026. The dataset comprises 28.4 hours of total integration time across three narrowband filters: 92 frames in Baader 7nm Hydrogen-alpha, 104 frames in Baader 8.5nm Oxygen-III, and 145 frames in Baader 8.5nm Sulfur-II. Each sub-exposure lasted 300 seconds.
The imaging train consisted of a Redcat 61 telescope paired with a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro monochrome camera, mounted on a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTI tracking platform. This combination of compact wide-field optics and a sensitive cooled CMOS sensor allowed the capture of this emission nebula's intricate structure across multiple ionization zones. The data is available as a free download under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license, permitting non-commercial copying, modification and redistribution.
Generated from the dataset's metadata; the author's description above is authoritative.